#sol18- May 22, 2018
I am determined to not be one of “those people” who “checks out” way before the end of the school year, especially as I am moving on at the end of the year. My school is moving on at the end of the year as well- going from two campuses to a brand new unified campus, so some of the end of year chaos is magnified because of both of these things.
Today one of my students told me that Monday is his last day. I assured him he must be mistaken, as I had not heard anything from his parents. I mentioned this to the teacher next door who teaches his twin brother and he sent a quick email to the parents. Turns out the mom had sent an email to the office a few weeks ago indicating that this was indeed the case.
Now I feel like all of my “keep it going” until the end is going to be too bad for this boy. There are so many end-of-year things that I plan to do in the last days that he will miss. On the one hand, I do not want him to miss certain things and I am tempted to reschedule some, yet on the other hand I feel like that will make the days after he leaves filled with “dead space” as we then will have done lots of our ending things (like making our writing notebooks for summer, creating our reading plans, etc.). We have four students in the class who will be leaving the school – it is a shame for him to miss the farewells to them as well. I say all this knowing that the family really did not have a whole lot of choice about their early departure. Their house is provided as part of mom’s job and the remodelling that is planned (not by them) starts on Tuesday so they can not be in the house after that date.
Further conspiring against me is the school’s plan. June 1 is a teacher work day to work on some of the packing and organizing required for the school’s move. Our last day of school is June 8, so a week before seems too early to really take apart much in my classroom. But because of this I have scheduled my moving company to come to school after school that day to take my personal things (which includes sooooooooo many books- my entire class library). The next day the movers will pack me out of my apartment (it is furnished, so there will still be basic furniture and major appliances).
It will be super weird to have the last week of school without my class library (we will have a small selection of books from the school, but not the boxes and shelves we are used to having). I now realize I will also have to figure out read alouds for that last week… I will miss our library too!
I think as I reflect on all this, I will keep on going as best as I can. Yes, this boy will miss many of the end of year activities, but better to keep the last days as “ending well” days for the rest of us. It will be all of us trying to do the best we can as the landscape around us changes.
So much to do!
Ms. Victor Reads 
Transitions are always tricky, and the ending dates on calendars always prove to be challenging. We’ve got about four more weeks, and I find myself scheduling all that I need to do in my head and calendar, wondering how it will happen.
Kevin
We had our state testing later this year–just last week–and there always seems to be a collective school sigh when that is accomplished. Yes, the teachers are still teaching, but there’s a different feeling to it. And yes, we already have students checking out…
Such thoughtfulness by you. It’s always difficult when the kids move before we close. We have a month left from today and so many celebrations in our school community prior to that. Savor your last days.
The dance of end of the year for international teachers is its own thing. Hang in there and remember that you need time for your own transitions with people – schedule those times!